Music Video Constructed from London’s Surveillance Footage

The Get Out Clause has too strong a ColdPlay gene for us to truly appreciate them on the merits of their music, but the way they made the music video for "Paper" was pure brilliance. Nearly the entire video was captured using the British government’s closed-circuit surveillance cameras.

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As part of the UK’s apparent drive to become a full-fledged police state, the British government has installed these cameras all over the place, reportedly driving some youths to wear cavernous hoodies to make it harder for would-be overlords to track their movement and behavior. There are so many cameras in London that the average person on the street has their photo taken by the government approximately every six seconds. In return for these repeated invasions of privacy, only three percent of the country’s solved crimes have apparently involved evidence gathered from the cameras.

At least citizens are allowed to request any footage in which they appeared within the last 30 days. The Get Out Clause used this aspect of the law to their advantage, getting the city to film its music video for free — a serious bargain, considering that the video is practically guaranteed to go viral.